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Biographical notesVilhelmiina Harju M.A. (Ed), is a doctoral student at the Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki. Her main research interests are lifelong learning, teachers' professional development, non-formal learning environments, and learning and teaching with digital technologies.

While game-based learning seems to be an effective instructional approach, the underlying learning and engagement mechanisms of games are still poorly understood. In the current study, we investigated to what extent flow experience and situational interest are different indicators of engagement in game-based learning. Fifty-two Finnish 5th graders played a game on fractions at home during COVID-19 enforced distance learning. Flow and situational interest measures were embedded directly into the game environment. Results revealed that although flow experience and situational interest constructs share similar components, they also differ. In particular, regression analysis indicated that situational interest is mostly related to immersive aspects of flow. Moreover, learning gains achieved by playing the game and situational interest were positively related – a relation not found with flow. Although flow was not related to learning gains, it seems to be a more competence-oriented construct than situational interest as it was positively correlated with in-game performance. The design of the game successfully supported weaker students with adaptive scaffolds and in-game self-reporting measures worked well. Taken together, even though situational interest and flow share similar components, both constructs are important for multifaceted assessment of engagement in game-based learning. Theoretical and practical implications for engagement research and game design are discussed.

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Background: In recent years, the importance of emotions in learning has been increasingly recognized. Applying emotional design to induce positive emotions has been considered a means to enhance the instructional effectiveness of digital learning environments. However, only a few studies have examined the specific effects of emotional design in game-based learning.Objectives: This quasi-experimental study utilized a value-added research approach to investigate whether emotional design applied to scaffolding in a game-based learning environment improves learning and motivational outcomes more than emotionally neutral scaffolding. Methods: A total of 138 participants, mean age of 11.5 (SD = 0.73) participated in the study. A total of 68 participants played the base version of a fraction learning game (Number Trace), where scaffolding was provided with emotionally neutral mathematical notations, and 70 participants played the value-added version of the game using emotionally designed animated scaffolding agents. Pre-and post-tests were used to measure conceptual fraction knowledge and self-reported measures of situational interest and situational self-efficacy to evaluate motivational outcomes.Results and Conclusions: Our results indicate that the emotional design applied to scaffolds can improve the educational value of a game-based learning environment by enhancing players' situational interest and situational self-efficacy. However, although the intervention improved the participants' conceptual fraction knowledge, there was no significant difference between the scaffolding conditions in participants' learning outcomes. Takeaways:The results suggest that emotional design can increase the educational impact of game-based learning by promoting the development of interest, as well as improving self-efficacy.